Having Serious Fun
by imaginethat96
Summary: N.E.S.T participated in a cadet exchange in an effort to earn the humans' trust. The returning human cadet goes on TV to try to get the world to understand that the Autobots are not the enemy, but has humanity ever listened to reason? ONE-SHOT glimpse into Post-DoTM life. A part of The Oxymoron Continuum.


_Imaginethat96's notes:_ I am so excited for the fourth live-action movie _Transformers: Age of Extinction_! If you have seen any of the pictures that leaked, you might have notice that there is propaganda and lots of it. The whole idea of _The Oxymoron Continuum_ is to look at natural human responses to aliens on Earth. So, with this fourth installment let us hope _AOE_ satisfies us with its plot and lots of "ship-able" material. Extra special thanks go out _to KopaxVitani_

 _Having Serious Fun_

A theme song plays and a woman appears on the set.

"You're watching News 42, the UK's number one source for the hardest-hitting information. I'm Christine Amude and tonight we'll delve deeper into the daily lives of the transformers. With me, I have English cadet, Tara Banks, who traveled to North America for an international cadet exchange."

The camera operator centres on a seventeen-year-old sitting on the opposite side of the desk to the interviewer.

"Ms. Banks five months ago and seemingly out of nowhere; you were thrust into the world's spotlight. Can you please explain why no one saw you coming?"

"Well, when I signed up I had opted to go wherever the Army cadet exchange office had room for me. I had no idea that something like this would happen."

"You were volunteered **by** the English Cadet Organization to go the United States of America?"

"No, not at all. The standard procedure for any exchange is really like applying for a job. It started with my résumé, then I had an interview with ECO, and then I was given my offer of participation."

"What part of that process were you aware that you were being considered to go to N.E.S.T headquarters?"

"In the ECO's interview they asked me a few questions about the Autobots. Just a couple about what I knew about their situation and what I thought about them. At the time I thought it standard protocol." Tara laughed, "Well, as standard as protocol can be nowadays."

"Really Tara? May I call you Tara? A government body slips in a question about the aliens and you do not care why they are interested in your opinion!"

"There are psychologists in every nursery, primary, and secondary school. If the government wants to know anything pertaining to aliens being on this planet and myself, then they have my psychological profile and 11.7 million others."

A commercial break commences and the teen quits her forced polite smile to take a drink of water. She misses the camera operator give the scowling journalist a silent threat.

"Sorry dearie, you have to believe that it has to be done for the ratings. I'll try to go easier hmm?"

"Thank you."

Again, the theme song plays.

"To our viewers, good evening and welcome back! Tara before the break you mentioned you received an offer of participation. What was that like?"

"My squad and I were at an outdoor assembly. My commanding officer was on the podium announcing names and their country of exchange. I was the last announced. I literately could not move. I was frozen in my spot, so the commanding officer had to come down onto the parade square to give me my offer of participation."

"Before you left was documented very intently-"

"No it wasn't. This is my first interview. All of the information was found in public ECO documents or out of context and over analysed Facebook posts from my friends."

"Well none the less, people were interested in your story before you left. After, if was as if you dropped off the face of the planet. Is it true that you refused interviews when you got back?"

"Yes, but only because they only wanted to know what was Optimus Prime's favourite colour or if Sam and Bumblebee were romantically involved! Absolute rubbish!"

The reported scratched out something in her notes. " I remember my producer saying that when he phoned to ask you to join us today, but you must realize that people are curious, _fascinated_ even, by the transformers, yet they have kept humanity shut out. Why do you think that is?"

"For the most part, they are private by nature. They have their own culture, and it's one of the reasons N.E.S.T offered a cadet exchange."

"You were a PR stunt?"

"Partly, yes." She waited to be interrupted by the reporter, but only got an impatient hand gesture to carry on. "N.E.S.T knows that they need better relationships with the public. Actually one time at lunch, one of the soldiers put it this way to me. N.E.S.T was originally made to stay a secret, to stay under the radar forever. After more than four years of that, becoming the most famous military organization in history was a challenge."

"I see. You had quite a busy time even before the real exchange began. So let's get to the thick of it. What was it like meeting the aliens? Who did you meet first?"

"I arrived in California on the first of June, a Sunday, and had to sign more paperwork. Something about both the twins being out of the brig. Anyway um, first I met with General Morshower and Colonel Lennox for photos and handshakes, they were both very kind. Then I met Optimus Prime. As I was getting a tour to my room for the week, he drove up and apologized for being late. Something about the twins in the brig again." The camera operator gave her a thumbs up when she looked over to him.

"Did he transform for you?" Christine jumped a little too excitedly.

"Um well whether he did it _for_ me, I don't know. But yes, as I said he had driven up to Colonel Lennox and me, transformed and then introduced himself. I forget why I had some free time, but for some reason I did on the Wednesday and believe me, Sideswipe showed me how they can really show off with their transformations."

"Optimus Prime is thought to be a very stoic and modest leader, are you saying that he showed off for you?"

"'Showed off' definitely is not the right term, but none the less I was _very_ impressed."

"Ah, so seems like a interesting start to the week that you were there."

"Yes definitely"

"Other than being star struck, what did you do on your exchange?"

"Rifle shooting and obstacle course are always common for cadet exchanges anywhere in the world. But the unique thing about my exchange was that N.E.S.T is obviously not a cadet base, so I was doing drills alongside fully trained soldiers. It really gave me a new outlook on service, the importance of the British military."

"You keep saying _exchange_ , so who took your place back home?"

"Bumblebee was supposed to take my place as my platoon's Warrant Officer, but some complications came up and it made it no longer possible."

Christine leaned forward on her elbows, placing clasped hand on her chin, "What complications?"

With a gleam in her eye Tara smiled faintly, "That's classified."

Caught off guard Christine sat silently blinking with raised eyebrows. The reporter took the moment to wrap up the interview thanking Tara for her time. The camera operator zoomed in as Christine spun forward in her chair. She tilted her head down while keeping eye contact with the camera taking the interview in a more serious, almost sinister tone. To Tara it seemed out of nowhere when Christine started ranting that the aliens were not welcome on Earth, that they had worn out their welcome and should be exiled. It was when the reporter began to blame the Autobots and accused them of being no different from the Decepticons that Tara tried to cry out.

She tried screaming that the woman was nuts. "How could she be doing this? The Autobots saved us! For fuck's sake their refugees!" were the words that Tara's lips could not form. The closing theme music started to play sending the cadet into a panic. Again she screamed demanding that camera man stop recording woman's hateful words. Tears were streaming down her face as she cried "It's not just!" over and over again until the theme song drowned her out and finally morphed into the ring of an alarm clock.

Tara sat up in a bed sweating. "Not this damned dream again," she cursed to herself. How many times would her subconscious torment her into thinking that she could make them all understand.

Her parents had been jailed for treason for defending the Autobots rights to stay and she had been sent away to distant relatives in Australia. She heard people call her a transformer sympathizer with disgust and it made her think that she was the one Autobot sympathizer left on this godforsaken planet.

It just wasn't right! Earth never had perfect social justice, but one would think that something as awesome as sentient robotic organisms from another planet would do something to _someone_. Shouldn't it have made people awestruck and given everyone epiphanies or something?

It seemed that the herd of sheep that was humanity had been brainwashed and fearmongered into hating the transformers. Tara couldn't let that happen to her. "Til all are one," she thought to herself. She had heard her parents say the solemn battle cry a year ago when they were taken away in cuffs. Now she understood what it meant. Her dreamt-up speeches about compassion would probably never be heard by the entire world. In anything she did she would be _lucky_ to get through to one person, but that one person would be enough. One more person would be everything.

The only way for her to fight would be to stand firm and alone when the populace was demanding that she bow to fear and hate. She would have to find the others that were out there thinking that they were "just one". They had to be out there. She wouldn't quite looking for the "ones". "So ya," she thought, "Til all are one!"

 _Imaginethat96's notes:_ So if you haven't guessed from the opening author's note I started this one quite a while ago. Bay disappointed with _AOE_ but at least we got Dinobots. Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review.


End file.
